


Dry Cereal

by BotchedExperiment



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Sickfic, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-18
Updated: 2018-11-18
Packaged: 2019-08-25 05:34:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16655179
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BotchedExperiment/pseuds/BotchedExperiment
Summary: Ezekiel's fellow librarians aren't very happy with him after he nearly gets them killed, and he feels too awful to care.





	Dry Cereal

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this instead of putting that energy to my NaNoWriMo project.  
> O O P S
> 
> Second Librarians fic, still trying to get the hang of everything. 
> 
> It's not super clear to me in the show whether they live in the library, but I'm going to pretend they do because that's more fun. 
> 
> Enjoy!

Ezekiel has a habit of making people angry. Not that he cares, that's sort of his job, after all. Cassandra has never really forgiven him for breaking her last phone, and Stone just recently found out that Ezekiel's been using his Netflix account for the past year.

It's normal for them to be pissed at him, but today something is different. He screwed up, nearly getting the four of them killed when he couldn't open a lock in time. Locks are his thing. Why was he having so much trouble? He drags his feet behind everyone, being uncharacteristically quiet. None of them notice, none of them care to, either, and he can't blame them this time.

It was doomed from the start, in retrospect.

No one was having a good day. Everyone was arguing with each other over on thing or another. Ezekiel had a headache that was just worsened with each of his teammate's yells to hurry up. He felt off when he woke up, maybe he should have told Baird that he didn't feel well, but he wasn't that lame. He thought he could power through.

He rolls his eyes at some rather obvious passive aggression from Stone and Cassandra as he walks by. Ezekiel has never been a fan of naps, but one of those sounds so good right now.

"Jones!" Baird calls out as he heads to their living space. "Don't go too far. I should talk to you later."

That can't be good. "Sure. Whatever!"

He definitely doesn't plan on going far. Ezekiel heads right into his room, wading through the clothes that litter his floor before falling right into his bed. Suddenly, he feels the need to get under the blankets as soon as possible. Why is it so cold today? He almost misses narrowly avoiding heatstroke in Australian summers. It would be pretty hot there this time of year.

He's just fallen asleep when there's a knock at the door.

"Mind meeting me?" Baird says. "Pretty soon but... whenever you're ready." She seems to have caught onto his poor mood, considering she's not barking out orders. Eve always has had some kind of superpower for reading the team; it's creepy.

Well, no naps today! Ezekiel is quick to get out of bed and get his meeting with Colonel Baird over with, except when he tries, he loses his balance and collapses right back onto it.

The ceiling above him spins, and his stomach doesn't like the motion one bit.

"Yeah, coming!" Normally he would just tell her he'd do it later, but he doesn't have the energy to try and avoid her.

Getting up and into clothes that aren't covered in mummy dust is a trial. He pauses every once in a while to give the room a moment to stop spinning. It's like getting in bed made his body realize how tired it really is, because now he can hardly move without feeling like his energy is being sapped. He's been in such a rush all day he hasn't realized how truly awful he feels.

His stomach churns as he pulls on a relatively-clean shirt and Ezekiel closes his eyes, willing the nausea to go away. The last thing he needs is to puke in front of his coworkers today. He's got a reputation to keep up!

He gives a relieved exhale as his stomach settles, and he opens his door only to come face-to-face with the library guardian.

"Were you just waiting there the whole time? Because that's weird, Colonel."

She rolls her eyes. "Come with me, let's go sit down somewhere."

"Oh no! Am I in trouble _again_?" He tries to sound sarcastic, and it kind of comes out sounding like a dying cat, having lost the energy to emote. Baird gives him a weird look when she hears his voice, but she doesn't acknowledge it.

"You're not in trouble! I just wanted to talk to you!"'

"See, now that's a mum thing to say when you _are_ in trouble."

Another eye roll.

They both have a seat in a little seating area between bookcases. It's a nice place to hang out... if you're a nerd, which Ezekiel is not. But he occasionally runs into Cassandra relaxing in this same area with a book.

"So," Baird crosses her legs. "Something happened with you today. What was it?" She wastes no time getting to the point.

Ezekiel's stomach chooses that time to start cramping. Ugh, not now.

"I choked, that's all. It was... stressful."

Her eyes widen. Apparently she didn't expect _him_ to get to the point so quickly, or admit that he did something wrong, for that matter. The truth is that Ezekiel just wants to get out of there before he pukes, or passes out, or... or before Baird catches on. Because that's just inevitable and he'd rather that not happen right away.

"Really?"

"Yeah, it was a lot of pressure." Saying that he got nervous while trying to pick a lock physically pains him. He hasn't been nervous during a heist since he was eleven.

"It's not like you to crack under pressure, Jones." Eve narrows her eyes at him, scrutinizing him a little too much for his comfort. "What aren't you telling me?"

He sighs dramatically. "Nothing!"

"Look, you can't keep secrets. This is a team, if something's going on then we need to know about it."

"Nothing's going on. I swear! You're making this a _way_ bigger deal than-" He can't stop himself from wrapping his arm around his abdomen as the cramp gets worse. Ezekiel emits a low groan, squeezing his eyes shut. The nausea is back in full force.

"Ezekiel?"

"Everything's... good..." He grounds out in an entirely unconvincing way.

He hears Eve sigh heavily, and suddenly there's a hand on his forehead.

"Okay, I didn't see that coming," she says to herself. "Jones, you have a fever. Are you sick?"

"No!" Even as he says this, he's pressing a hand to his mouth to avoid vomiting right there. None of what is happening right now is a good thing. He should get out of here.

"Hey Ezekiel, tell me what's going on. You gonna throw up?"

He considers his options for a moment and realizes he has none. Ezekiel gives a small nod, and it's apparently enough for Eve to grab his arm and drag him to the nearest bathroom. Just in time, too.

He ejects his stomach contents until there's nothing left, and now his headache is far worse. He didn't know he could feel worse than he already did, and yet here he is.

After he takes a few moments to get himself together, Eve knocks on the bathroom door. "Give me a sign that you haven't passed out or choked on your own vomit."

"Go away!"

"Good enough."

There's no getting rid of her, really, because she's right there to help him back to bed as soon as he leaves the bathroom. She leaves him a glass of water with a bottle of Tylenol and tells him to text her if he needs anything. Ezekiel doesn't plan on doing that, because once he gets a nap in he'll be better than ever. And he doesn't need anyone's help anyway, ever again.

\-----

Ezekiel wakes up hours later, his clock telling him that it's two in the morning. He feels like he's hardly slept at all, but at least his stomachache is gone. The headache, not so much.

With a groan, he turns toward his nightstand and reaches for the pills Eve had lent him. Apparently she keeps the entire bottle in her room, although he can't imagine why she would need that many painkillers.

The pills go down easier than he expects, and he takes a moment just to lean back against his bed and remember the day before. Screwing over the team, pissing everyone off, nearly puking on Colonel Baird...

He may owe her a 'thank you' later if he can manage to make those words come out of his mouth.

While his body is still exhausted and drained, he doesn't feel that he's going to be able to go back to sleep for a while, so Ezekiel decides to venture out to the kitchen. Maybe he can find a snack to refill his empty stomach.

Ezekiel takes his time getting out of bed and makes sure that he's not going to pass out or fall on his face. He pads down the hallway with a yawn, slowly but surely making his way to the kitchen. It's nice not to be so dizzy he can't walk. Who knew he takes walking for granted?

Ezekiel flips the light on and echoes a loud yelp that makes its way through the room.

"Cassandra? What are you doing up?"

She has a hand pressed to her heart, eyes wide like a deer in headlights. "I couldn't sleep," Cassandra's rather short answer tells him she's still upset about the day before. Fair.

"Yeah, same. Felt like sitting in the dark?"

"Light suppresses melatonin production, so I figured I'd have better luck getting sleepy if I kept them off."

She dips a spoon into a sizable container of strawberry ice cream. Her name is on it at all times now after Ezekiel and Stone (and Baird, but she made them promise not to involve her) kept sampling her supply of frozen treats.

"Where were you after we got back yesterday?"

"I..." still feeling drained of energy, he sits at the opposite end of the island from her. He can't help but feel warmth rise in his chest when he realizes Eve didn't mention his illness to anyone. She must have known he wouldn't want to tell any of the others. "I was sleeping."

Cassandra raises an eyebrow. "Sleeping? Why?"

"I don't know, Cassandra. I was tired!"

"Okay fine!" she raises her hands in surrender, one of them still holding the spoon. "No need to be all grumpy."

"It's 2AM."

She shrugs. "Fair point."

Things are silent between them for a bit while Ezekiel searches the kitchen for something to eat. The library's kitchen was pretty home-y. Cupboards and tables looked as old as the rest of the place's interior did, and it had its own character.

Not that Ezekiel notices that kind of thing.

Ready to sit down again, he picks up a random cereal and pours himself a bowl. Milk? Naw, he'll eat it dry like a savage. Milk is probably the last thing he should be putting in his stomach right now.

Cassandra doesn't even question it as he sits down and sticks his hand in the bowl of honey-nut cheerios.

"Ezekiel," she says quickly.

He's got a mouthful of cereal when he tries to respond. "Hm?"

"I'm sorry about being so rude to you yesterday. I was just- we'd been working for hours and I was tired and everything was… well, I'm sorry."

Ezekiel blinks, chewing slow and awkwardly. He hadn't expected this, especially when he was the one who messed up. "I… forgive you?"

She exhales in relief, offering a gentle smile. "I'm glad! I was so worried you thought- Ezekiel? You okay?"

He squeezes his eyes shut as a sharp pain surges through his head. Suddenly the kitchen lights are too bright. He isn't sure what a melatonin is but maybe the light is trying to suck it out of him. With a low groan, he massages his head until the pressure goes away. That Tylenol isn't doing its job.

"Headache," he finally admits to his worried teammate. "Awful... headache."

Without a word, Cassandra gets up and grabs a some things from cupboards and drawers before turning the light off. Seconds later, he hears a match ignite and watches her light a candle that now sits in the middle of the island.

"Better?"

The room is lit in much dimmer, warmer light. He wants to act tough and recover from his brief and humiliating moment of vulnerability, but instead Ezekiel just nods.

"A lot better."

She nods triumphantly before getting up to put her ice cream away. It makes sense Cassandra would know how to deal with headaches. He's never taken the time to think about that.

With each pathetic handful of cereal, Ezekiel finds himself feeling more exhausted and longing to go back to bed. His little adventure was fun while it lasted, but now his body is starting to ache again, and he's suddenly freezing.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" Cassandra says, way too upbeat for how late it is. "Or... I guess, later today. Sleep good!"

She goes to pat him on the shoulder, only to 'hm' and press her palm to his forehead.

"Wow, you're... really warm."

He's been found out.

Ezekiel move's out of her reach with an annoyed wine. "Mind not feeling me up?"

Her eyebrows are knitted together in concern as she reluctantly puts her hand down. "You're sick. Is that why you were acting so weird yesterday?"

"Maybe," he says vaguely. _Maybe_ his head was pounding at the time, _maybe_ he felt like he could fall asleep right there in the mummy's tomb, _maybe_ he should have told someone that.

"Oh, Ezekiel…" He doesn't like the tone in her voice. "Now I'm _super_ sorry for getting upset at you."

"Stop looking at me like I'm dying!"

Cassandra blinks rapidly, shaking her head. "Sorry! You should've said something. We wouldn't have been so hard on you if we'd known that- Okay, Stone might have, but if-"

"It's too late now," He says with a lazy shrug. And he's right. What was he supposed to do, anyway? He hardly takes himself seriously, he couldn't expect someone else to. "I'm fine, anyway." Probably.

He manages to get Cassandra to go back to bed before heading to his own. She would've stayed with him all night out of pure guilt and pity if he let her.

Ezekiel sighs in content as he climbs into bed. It isn't long before he's able to fall asleep once again, and he has hopes that tomorrow he won't almost kill his teammates.

 

 


End file.
